Discover L (Book 2) | Complete |

~~ Pass The Blame ~~

Several holes had opened up in the ground and walls of the cavern, and the creatures that were inching out of them were the stuff of nightmares. Ten, long spindly black legs, a round, slimy grey body and a pudgy face that would make a Demon cringe. They crept out of the holes in one eerie flow of ugliness, each creature the size of a large car.

Their large mouths were wide open, showing off yellow fangs dripping with a substance that smoked when it hit the ground. Their three beady eyes shone with an eerie white light. L shuddered as she watched the way they herded towards Andrei. She quickly swooped down to stand with Bryce, both of them watching Andrei and the creatures carefully. 

"You didn't think I would take on the infamously sneaky Keepers without more backup, did you?" Andrei gloated, his disgust evident. "I'm neither stupid nor crazy, I am simply a man with a mission. And I will complete it tonight."

L rolled her eyes, "Even with this backup, you won't win. My friends and I have taken on worse odds; we won then, and we'll win now. You're just too scared to face me by yourself."

Andrei's gaze darkened, and all amusement had disappeared. L knew what buttons to press already. Andrei was proud; he counted himself better than others and especially the Keepers. He couldn't stand by while she insulted his strength in comparison to hers, who he deemed a lowly Keeper.

"You think I can't beat you? I was toying with you before, but now, my patience has run out. This is your own doing... don't say I didn't warn you."

He gestured towards his creatures, who immediately began crawling towards Robbie.

"L, I don't think I can take them on as well!" He called to her, with a string of curses when the Abdoria almost took a chunk out of his back leg.

L nodded and signalled to Bryce, who seemed reluctant to leave her. She squeezed his arm gently and gestured with her head. She needed him to help Robbie. She couldn't fight well while she was distracted by worries of his safety. Bryce appeared to understand and gave her an encouraging smile before sprinting away to intercept the creatures. His sword glinted threateningly, and L found herself smiling despite their situation.

"Arrogant Keeper, I'll wipe that smile off your face."

L heard the words in one second and jumped aside in the next, just in time to see a fireball searing past her face. She turned and smirked at Andrei, her claws were out, and her magic was ready.

"You'll die for what you did to my kind."

L shot forward, firing blast after blast, which Andrei took great efforts to avoid. He tried to shoot back, but L didn't give him any opportunities. All of her anger, pain, and grief were pouring out of her now, and she wasn't going to hold back. Andrei could do nothing but defend, and L didn't want to admit it, but he was doing a good job of it. She couldn't get any of her hits close enough to do any kind of damage. She needed an opening, some way to tip the scales of the battle in her favour, and it didn't look like he was going to make that easy. 

L pushed on, however, and tried to get around him. There was something in Andrei's expression that made her think he might be tiring. His brow was creased, and he appeared to be cursing her under his breath. L curled her lip, and with a sudden idea, she summoned the dagger from her bag. Unfortunately, that moment of distraction had given Andrei the opening he'd been waiting for. He proceeded to attack with fervour.

It was L's turn to dodge and dive out of his way. She stuck the dagger in her boot while simultaneously rushing to get out of the way. She could feel the power of his magic, and it was clear he was definitely Vadim's kin. But she'd trained with Vadim; she knew how Warlock magic worked and she had more reason to beat Andrei than she had Vadim. She pivoted on one foot to dodge a particularly nasty bolt of lightning and pulled the dagger back out in the same movement.